Key Issues In Special Education

Michael Farrell

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2007
• ISBN:
  9781134258338
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Considerable challenges can face all those involved in teaching children with special educational needs. Complex policy and legislation, bureaucracy, inspection and limited resources can all appear difficult obstacles to those seeking to provide effective tuition. In this highly practical book, Michael Farrell unpicks and clarifies the role of educational standards in today's schools. Drawing extensively on detailed, real-life case studies, he closely explores such issues as: the definition of standards, identifying and providing for special educational needs, assessment and benchmarking, curriculum provision and target-setting, the role of the Code of Practice. Special educational needs coordinators, senior managers in schools and students completing initial training courses will find this an invaluable resource, which effortlessly simplifies an often complicated process.

Chapter 1

Defining special educational needs

Introduction

This chapter seeks to elucidate terms. I explain what I mean by standards of pupil attainment, pupil achievement and progress, first in general and then with particular reference to pupils with special educational needs (SEN). After considering, in the context of English legislation, different legal definitions of ‘disability’, I examine the legal definition of SEN in the Education Act 1996, which includes definitions both of ‘disability’ and of ‘difficulty in learning’. The chapter then relates the legal definition of SEN to standards of pupil attainment and progress.

I indicate how a consideration of standards pupil attainment and progress helps distinguish pupils with SEN from pupils for whom English is an additional language, pupils with low attainments because of poor educational opportunities, and very able pupils. The chapter examines why it is important that SEN is defined. Finally, I examine how many pupils are believed to need special educational provision, considering the issue of manageability in some schools.

Standards of pupil attainment, standards of pupil achievement and progress

In this section, I explain what I mean by standards of attainment, standards of achievement and progress. An attempt was made to distinguish attainment and achievement in the Office for Standards in Education Handbooks (OfSTED 2003a, 2003b, 2003c). But the use of the two terms is not always consistent and sometimes the documents speak confusingly of ‘standards achieved’ before going on to discuss standards of attainment as well as standards of achievement (e.g. OfSTED 2003b, p. 43). However, a useful distinction can be drawn between attainment and achievement, even if it is easy to slip from one to the other. The following examples draw on the Handbook for Inspecting Secondary Schools (OfSTED 2003b), but the approach is similar for primary schools, special schools and pupil referral units.

Standards of attainment refer to the standards that pupils reach in curriculum subjects such as English, mathematics and science in terms of national comparisons with other pupils of the same age. Accordingly, the Handbook for Inspecting Secondary Schools states that ‘Where national assessments, tests and examinations apply to pupils at the school, inspectors should interpret the results and trends so that parents and others can understand what the data mean’ (OfSTED 2003b, p. 43).

Standards of achievement concern the standards that pupils reach when their capabilities and their progress have been taken into consideration and they can involve a judgement about whether these standards are as high as they should be. They apply not only to curriculum subjects but also to the pupils’ attitudes to learning and aspects of development. The Handbook for Inspecting Secondary Schools states that:

The main judgements concern whether the achievements of the pupils are as high as they should be, taking into account their capabilities and the progress they have made in the school. Achievements include pupils’ knowledge, skills and understanding gained through the subjects of the curriculum, and the attitudes, values, and other aspects of personal development fostered by the school.

(OfSTED 2003b, p. 43)

One reason that achievement rather than attainment is considered to apply to personal development is that it is difficult to speak of attainment in terms of national levels in connection with, for example, behaviour or self-esteem. However, even in assessing personal development, there are attempts to provide consistency and an element of standardisation. These are explored in a later chapter.

The notion of capability (like ‘potential’) is problematic because one has to be careful not to underestimate or overestimate what a child might be capable of. If the child’s prior learning and the rate of learning of other children are taken into account, this can sharpen the use of the term.

But why is the distinction between attainment and achievement important? Pupils in a secondary school may be reaching high levels of attainment in examinations at age 16 when compared with pupils of the same age nationally. But it may reasonably be expected that they should have done better due, for example, to the very high standards of attainment they had at the start of secondary school (their prior attainment). It may be, therefore, that their standards of achievement are too low. The judgement about attainment, it will be seen, takes into account their ‘capability’ (including what they can already do) and their progress.

The difference between attainment and achievement is helpful also when applied to pupils with SEN. Consider an example of a primary school that educates pupils with SEN in the form of severe speech or communication difficulties. In the national assessments of speaking and listening, the pupils reach standards much lower than those of pupils of the same age nationally as reflected in end of key stage standard assessment tests and tasks. Their standards of attainment are low.

The question then is, should the school be expected to do better? The answer to this will depend on various factors. Firstly, without setting too low (or too high) aspirations for the pupils with SEN, a judgement will have to be made about the pupils’ ‘capability’. This will be informed by what they could already do earlier in their school career. Also, the progress that they have made in school will be assessed. This may be judged perhaps taking into account the views of speech and language therapists, teachers, the pupil, parents and others as being for example poor, satisfactory, or good. This will lead to a judgement about whether the pupils’ standards of achievement are high enough. Further refinements can be made to the judgements about standards of achievement by comparing the progress of pupils with severe speech and communication difficulties with that of other pupils with similar difficulties (perhaps in another school) starting from a similar ‘baseline’. Such approaches are discussed later in the book.

As has already been indicated, it is important to remember that standards of pupil achievement apply not only to subjects of the curriculum but also to personal development. When the OfSTED framework refers to ‘standards’ for example, it addresses the questions, ‘How high are the standards achieved in the areas of learning and subjects and courses of the curriculum?’ but also, ‘How well are the pupils’ attitudes, values and other personal qualities developed?’ (e.g. OfSTED 2003b, p. 44 and p. 56).

In looking at pupils’ standards of attainment, standards of achievement, and progress, we have already begun to touch on issues concerning SEN. It is now necessary to retrace our steps a little and consider in more detail what SEN is taken to mean in current legislation in England.

Legal definitions of disability in England

There are (different) definitions of disability in the Children Act 1989, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the Education Act 1996. This section considers the definitions of disability in the first two Acts.

The Children Act 1989 (England and Wales) section 17 describes children with disabilities within a wider context of children ‘in need’ which allows eligibility for certain support and services from the local authority. A child is ‘in need’ if:

1. he/she is unlikely to achieve or maintain, or to have the opportunity of achieving or maintaining a reasonable standard of health or development without the provision for him/her of services by a local authority under this [Part] of the Act;
2. his/her health or development is likely to be significantly impaired, or further impaired, without the provision for him/her of such services
3. he/she is disabled.

‘Development’ refers to physical, intellectual, emotional, social or behavioural development while ‘health’ encompasses physical and mental health. The Act states that:

A child is disabled if he is blind, deaf or dumb or suffers from mental disorder of any kind or is substantially and permanently handicapped by illness, injury or congenital deformity or other such disability as may be prescribed.

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 defines a disabled person as someone who has:

… a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

The term ‘physical or mental impairment’ includes sensory impairments such as those affecting sight or hearing; learning difficulties and clinically well-recognised mental illness.

The legal definition of SEN in England

Having looked at the definitions of disability in the Children Act 1989 and in the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, I now consider the Education Act 1996. This includes a further definition of ‘disability’ and also a definition of ‘difficulty in learning’, both of which are then related to ‘learning difficulty’ and ‘special educational need’ (Education Act 1996, section 312).

The term special educational needs came to be commonly employed in England following its use in the ‘Warnock Report’ (DES 1978, Passim.). Before then it was more usual to refer to categories of ‘handicap’ set under regulations following the Education Act 1944, namely: blind; partially sighted; deaf; partially deaf; delicate; diabetic; educationally subnormal; epileptic; maladjusted; physically handicapped, and speech defect. Following the ‘Warnock Report’, the Education Act 1981 replaced the previous categories of handicap with a broader definition of SEN. Among other things, the shift to SEN helped indicate that the previous ‘handicapping conditions’ were to be seen in relation to learning. They were no longer categories carrying with them the possible connotations that development was arrested and that the child’s difficulties or disabilities were fixed or exclusively within the child.

The notion of SEN has been carried forward into subsequent legislation including the Education Act 1996 where the definition is that:

a child has special educational needs … if he has a learning difficulty which calls for special educational provision to be made for him

(Education Act 1996, section 312)

Defining ‘learning difficulty’, the Act states that a child has a learning difficulty if:

1. he has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of his age
2. he has a disability which either prevents or hinders him from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for children of his age in schools within the area of the local education authority
3. he is under the age of five and is, or would be if special educational provision were not made for him, likely to fall within paragraph (a) and (b) when of, or over that age

(Education Act 1996, section 312 (2))

‘Special educational provision’ means:

1. for a child of two or over, educational provision which is additional to, or otherwise different from, the educational provision made generally for children of their age in schools maintained by the LEA, other than special schools, in the area
2. for children under two, educational provision of any kind.

(Education Act 1996, section 312).

‘Difficulty in learning’ and ‘learning difficulty’ in relation to standards of pupil attainment

‘Difficulty in learning’ and ‘learning difficulty’

There is a nested structure to the legal definition of SEN. It will be seen from the legal definition that a child may have a ‘difficulty in learning’ but not a ‘learning difficulty’. This arises because the ‘difficulty in learning’ may not be a ‘significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of his age’ (Education Act 1996 section 312 (2)).

Also, a child may have a ‘learning difficulty’ but not a ‘special educational need’. This is because the child’s learning difficulty may not call for ‘special educational provision to be made for him’ (ibid.). This special educational provision, it will be remembered, is educational provision which is ‘additional to, or otherwise different from, the educational provision made generally for children of their age in schools maintained by the LEA, other than special schools, in the area’ (ibid.). So a child may have a ‘difficulty in learning’ but not a ‘learning difficulty’ and may have a ‘learning difficulty’ but not a ‘special educational need’. Only when a child has a ‘difficulty in learning’ which constitutes a ‘learning difficulty’which calls for special educational provision to be made, does the child have a SEN. In this case, the SEN may be for example ‘specific learning difficulty’, ‘moderate learning difficulty’, ‘severe learning difficulty’ or ‘profound and multiple learning difficulty’. It will be seen that such SENs equate with and are partly defined according to attainment and progress. For example, a child with moderate learning difficulty will have lower attainments than other children of the same age and will have made slower progress.

‘Disability’ and ‘learning difficulty’ in relation to standards of pupil attainment

The nested nature of the definition of SEN applies to disability (e.g. hearing impairment; visual impairment; multi-sensory impairment; physical difficulties) as well as to difficulty in learning. A child may have a ‘disability’ but not a ‘learning difficulty’. This is because the disability may not either prevent or hinder him ‘from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for children of his age in schools within the area of the local education authority’ (Education Act 1996, section 312).

Similarly the child can have a ‘learning difficulty’ brought about by a ‘disability’ but not have a SEN. This is because the child’s learning difficulty does not call for ‘special educational provision to be made for him’. Special education provision is, educational provision which is ‘additional to, or otherwise different from, the educational provision made generally for children of their age in schools maintained by the LEA, other than special schools, in the area’ (ibid.).

So a child may have a ‘disability’ but not a ‘learning difficulty’ and may have a ‘learning difficulty’ but not a ‘special educational need’. Only when a child has a ‘disability’ constituting a ‘learning difficulty’ calling for special educational provision to be made, does the child have a SEN.

Disability in relation to SEN does not relate to standards of attainment and progress in the same way that ‘difficulty in learning’ leading to ‘learning difficulty’ does. Disability such as blindness does not equate with (and is not partly defined by) lower attainment and slower progress than age average in curriculum areas or in personal, social and behavioural development. In the case of disability, the learning difficulty that leads to a SEN concerns a physical impairment leading to a difficulty in gaining access to learning and the curriculum.

However, standards of attainment and progress still play a central role. To the extent that educational provision is appropriate for a pupil with a disability, the pupil can be expected to make faster progress and attain a higher level than would be the case otherwise. In other words, faster progress and a higher standard of attainment for a disabled pupil is an indication that the educational provision is suitable.

Relationship between ‘difficulty in learning’ and ‘disability’

The above discussion has considered separately ‘difficulty in learning’ (leading to learning difficulty and a SEN) and ‘disability’ (leading to learning difficulty and a SEN).

However, ‘difficulty in learning’ and ‘disability’ cannot always be neatly separated. For example, a child with speech or communication problems may have these because of an apparent difficulty in learning and processing language or because of a physical deficit in the formation of the mouth or tongue. Also, a child with profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD) may have profound learning difficulties but also a disability such as hearing impairment or visual impairment.

However, the earlier discussion has, it is hoped, indicated an important distinction in the legal definition and a real distinction that can be made between ‘difficulty in learning’ and ‘disability’ as they concern SEN. For a broad overview of education legislation in England and Wales see Farrell et al.(1995). For an overview of special education legislation particularly in England, see Farrell (2003b).

Avoiding potential confusion between SEN and other factors

Potential confusion

It is possible to confuse evidence that a pupil has SEN with evidence having other educational implications regarding:

• pupils who have English as an additional language
• pupils with low attainments because of poor educational opportunities and
• pupils who are very able.

Below, I indicate how necessary distinctions can be made between pupils with SEN and these other pupils by taking account of standards of pupils’ attainment and progress.

Pupils who have English as an additional language

Children for whom English is an additional language may be incorrectly considered as having SEN if only levels of attainment are taken into account and not rate of progress. A pupil for whom English is an additional language may have low attainment in literacy...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Illustrations
• The author
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Defining special educational needs
• Chapter 2: How types of SEN and LEA criteria relate to pupils’ standards and progress
• Chapter 3: How identifying, assessing and providing for pupils with SEN is informed by pupils’ standards and progress
• Chapter 4: Curriculum and assessment and target-setting in ‘academic’ areas
• Chapter 5: Personal and social development and behaviour and target-setting
• Chapter 6: Inclusion
• Chapter 7: Special educational funding according to achievement
• Chapter 8: Using pupil attainment data for pupils with SEN and other information
• Chapter 9: Standards and school provision for pupils with SEN
• Chapter 10: The special school and other specialist SEN provision
• Bibliography